How Much to Pay a Web Designer
Web designers charge prices all over the spectrum, so how much should you pay your web designer?
With most purchases, it is assumed that the more money you spend, the better quality product you receive. This is not true when it comes to web design.
And, if you know how to find them, there are plenty charging reasonable prices and putting out an excellent product. Don’t choose a web designer based on price. Our experts weigh in on what prices can you expect to see for different types of web design projects.
Alex Canton tells about a friend of his who was able to find a company in the Philippines to make an eBay-quality website for selling Ugg Boots for $500:
1) Cost is Driven By Scope and Complexity
“For $500, I got one page locally,” he explains. This shows just what a broad spectrum of prices you will find. The trick is knowing when you’re getting a good deal, and when you’re just getting ripped off.
Tadd, from teamlauncher.com, says that hiring a web designer from the Phillipines can be 70% of the cost of hiring someone locally. If you are able to find good quality work, this could provide incredible savings.
2) Offshoring for Web Design Has Risk
Watch out for hidden charges. A lot of web designers will have tremendous extra charges for things you would assume would be part of the main cost. Gather information about this up front.
This is often a problem with offshore resources that look cheap, but pack on the fees after you sign the contract.
Sometimes the language barrier is a problem too which requires a lot more time and rework to get the job done correctly. That all costs money. The time difference can add an additional burden.
When Best Small Biz Help was interviewing web designers in Mumbai, we had conference calls at 6AM EST to discuss our site with web designers before they went home for the day.
3) Charging for Rework and Refinement
Another thing to take into consideration is what the web designer will charge for re-work. Some designers are willing to re-work for free until you are satisfied with the product. It's customary that it takes three tries to "get it right".
But many companies will charge you every time they have to go back and change something. If you're paying an hourly fee, those fees can rack up very fast at $100 per hour. Take this into account when you are comparing prices.
So how much should you pay a web designer? These days, WordPress, which Best Small Biz Help.com is built on, Joomla and other integrted web platforms make it so much easier to present yourself professionally online.
Web designers like them too because it's easier for them. Pay a web designer what they're worth. If they're crackerjack at what they do, then $100 per hour is not expensive. If they can get the job done in ten minutes when someone charging $50 per hour takes two hours to complete the task, it's worth it. Yes, we've experienced this.
A website that is a simple online brochure with five pages on one of these platforms migiht cost between $1000- $2500. If you add a database engine to capture newsletter sign ups as well as a transaction engine to sell products or services online, expect that cost to jump a lot.
We estimate it could cost you around $10,000or higher for a site with these capabilities.
4) Post Site Maintenance
It's worth it to pay a web designer more money up front if the design makes the maintenance easier. As the site owner, you should be able to upload new articles or change information on the site without having to pay your web designer to do it.
How much to pay a web designer? What they're worth! Call at least four references for each designer you're considering to gain confidence they can complete your job on time, on budget, and with the right attitude!
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